


What Can Heal a Broken Heart?

by Fionnuala_B



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-08-14
Updated: 2012-08-27
Packaged: 2017-11-12 04:07:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/486510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fionnuala_B/pseuds/Fionnuala_B
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hermione's heart has been broken. Can it be repaired by none other than Draco Malfoy? Inspired by the songs of the wonderful Colbie Caillat</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N This is my first ever story, so I'm not too sure about how it will turn out but I'd love any advice from absolutely anyone who reads this!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters (except Jack who is just mentioned now and then) – they all belong to the wonderful J.K. Rowling. I don't own the song lyrics either – The songs included in this chapter are: "Breakin' at the Cracks", "Stay With Me", and "Never Let You Go", all by Colbie Caillat.

Hermione apparated into The Leaky Caldron and took a seat at a table tucked away into a corner of the pub. She ordered a Fire Whiskey and downed it in one. After her 4th drink, she let the tears spill over and run down her face. She buried her face in her hands, not bothering to try and stop the sobs wracking her body. She could feel something hard pressing into her cheek and swiftly removed the large ring that was on her 3rd finger of her left hand. Seeing the engagement ring that Jack had given her, made her tears begin to flow harder and faster. 

Jack was a wizard who Hermione had met through Viktor Krum. Viktor and Hermione's "relationship" had never really got anywhere, but they had remained good friends, owling one another regularly. It had been he who had introduced Hermione to Jack, an English wizard whose family had left the country when he was 10. He was the same age as Hermione and had met her after he had graduated from Durmstrang Institute. After briefly meeting Hermione at a party Viktor had thrown when he had travelled to England, Jack had walked into her office in the Ministry of Magic and had asked her out to dinner. After a few dinner dates, he had taken her to meet his parents and shortly after that, he had proposed to her. She had immediately accepted but earlier that day she had found out that Jack had been cheating on her throughout their entire relationship. She had just found out that he gone and married a model two weeks earlier. 

Hermione rested her head in her arms. She didn’t realise that anyone was there until someone laid a hand on her shoulder.”Excuse me?” a rich, concerned voice said. “Are you all right?” Hermione raised her head to look at the man. He had piercing blue grey eyes and long honey blond hair. He looked vaguely familiar to Hermione but she couldn’t quite place his face. She hic-coughed and wiped her eyes furiously, trying to wipe away most of the tears.  
“Hermione?”  
“Do I know you?” Hermione asked still mopping at her eyes.  
The man chuckled and helped her up. “Of course you do! It’s me, Draco.” Hermione squinted up and saw that it was indeed her friend from her last year at school. “Here,” he said kindly, “Let me take you home – you’re in a right state.” When Hermione tried to resist, protesting that she would be fine, he gripped her elbow and after finding out her address, apparated them onto her doorstep. He opened the door and gently led the still crying Hermione into her living room before walking into her kitchen to make her a mug of tea. Hermione curled up on the sofa with tears streaming down her face. "I'm breakin’ at the cracks  
And everything goes black  
It's another heart attack  
And I can't handle that  
Whoa, Love I need you back"  


Draco stood in the doorway and felt his heart swell with pity for Hermione. He swore right then and there that he would try his very hardest to fix what had been broken in Hermione’s life. Her moved over to the sofa, placed the mugs on the coffee table and put his arms around Hermione’s shoulders. He let her cry into his shoulder and rubbed her back soothingly. Eventually, she had no more tears to cry and he gently wiped her face. He handed her a mug of tea and sat beside her until her breathing slowed and she appeared to have calmed down. He took her hand and looked at her. “Hermione,” he began. “In our last year together at Hogwarts, you were one of the only people who even talked to me because of what my family did. I count you among my closest friends and if you want to talk about it, you do know I’m always here, right?” Hermione nodded and told Draco everything that had happened with Jack. By the time she had finished, Draco’s face was set. He was determined to make sure that nothing would ever hurt her ever again.

Hermione came to a stop and looked at Draco. “Sorry for telling you this. You probably don’t even care...”  
Draco laughed. “Hermione – I’m one of your best friends,” (“I hope” he thought) “And of course I care!! Listen, why don’t you go and get ready for bed and I’ll find something to help you to sleep – that ok?” Hermione nodded and walked to the door. Standing in the doorframe, she paused and looked back. She looked vulnerable, with her tear streaked face, and her voice rough from crying. “Draco?” she mumbled.  
“Yeah?”  
“Will you stay with me?”  
“Hermione, I would stay with you forever if that was what you wanted.”  
Hermione gave him a tiny smile, and carried on towards her bathroom. Draco smiled and made his way to the kitchen to find a sleeping potion. He couldn’t find any and as he didn’t have enough time to make some, he rummaged through her medicine cabinet until he found some muggle sleeping tablets. He poured a glass of water and brought it, with the tablets, into the living room. He could hear the sound of running water coming from Hermione’s shower so he sat down on her sofa and thought about her words: “Stay with me.” He reached into the back pocket of his jeans and took out a small black notebook. Although “The Golden Trio” had become Draco’s best friends during their 7th year together at Hogwarts, he hadn’t told them about his release for his feelings. He had gone to the room of requirement when he had needed time on his own, and had found a guitar. He had begun to teach himself how to play it and to his surprise, found it incredibly relaxing. Eventually, he had begun to write songs to let out his emotions. Now he opened the notebook and wrote on a fresh page:

  
"I will help you keep your smile  
Promise me you'll stay awhile  
I will come when you need it  
And I'll help you when I can  
When I can  
Stay with me"  


Draco heard Hermione move from the bathroom to her bedroom and stood up. He put his notebook away, picked up the tablets and glass of water and moved down the corridor to the room that he presumed was Hermione’s bedroom. He stood outside for a minute then knocked gently on the door and entered. She was curled up in bed wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top.  
“I couldn’t find a sleeping potion but I found these – hope they're ok...”  
Hermione looked up and smiled. “They’ll be fine Draco.” Draco gave her a weak smile – he could tell that she’d been crying again. Hermione moved over on the bed and patted the sheets beside her. “Will you lie with me until I fall asleep? Don’t let me go?” Draco slipped off his shoes and lay down beside her. She put her head on his chest and he wrapped his arms around her tightly. He closed his eyes and waited until Hermione’s breathing became slow and steady. When he was sure that she was asleep, he moved her over slightly and took out his notebook again. He opened a new page and began to hum a tune under his breath. As he hummed, he wrote:   
"If the world stops turning, when the sun stops burning,  
When the cold wind starts to blow, I wanna let you know  
Oh, I’ll never let you go  
When you feel like breaking, when your heart keeps waiting  
When the tears begin to flow, I wanna let you know  
Oh, I’ll never let you go."  
Draco looked at the sleeping Hermione and sighed. He hadn’t seen her in 2 months – not since he left to go to France on Ministry work - and when he had found her again, she was crying her heart out over a glass of Fire Whiskey. He didn’t know what to do.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Again I don’t own anything except Jack and the plot....the characters still all belong to the amazing J.K. Rowling. The song lyrics are by Colbie Caillat and the song is “Fallin’ For You”

Draco lay beside Hermione for a while longer then quietly got off the bed and padded back to the living room. He suddenly realised that he had no fresh clothes for the next day so he took off his shirt and jeans and lay down on Hermione’s sofa with a blanket over him. He lay quietly for about an hour, unable to sleep. He began to hum the tune that he had begun earlier for Hermione and began to build on it. Just as he was beginning to drift asleep, he heard a scream.  
“DRACO!!!!” he heard Hermione sob. He ran to her bedroom and found her ashen faced, tears streaming down her face. He strode to the bed and pulled her into his arms.  
“Shhh, it’s ok, it was just a dream....” Hermione clung to Draco as though he was a lifeline.  
Draco climbed onto the bed, rocking Hermione gently, as one does with a baby, and sang under his breath to her until she was asleep. When she finally fell asleep, her head was on his chest, her arms tightly locked. Draco moved slightly and she gripped him more tightly. Draco looked down at Hermione’s sleeping form, sighed slightly and went to sleep.

The next morning, Hermione woke at the crack of dawn. The sun was just beginning to shine through the curtains, casting the room in a warm, golden glow. She could feel something warm and heavy draped across her back. She slowly opened her eyes and saw a bare chest. Her eyes wandered up the chiseled torso and muscular shoulders, and found the face of a sleeping Draco Malfoy. She smiled and snuggled in under the blankets. She peeked up at Draco and watched him sleep. When he began to show signs of beginning to wake up, she hurriedly pretended she was still asleep. She could feel his eyes on her and yawned, pretending to wake up. She smiled up at Draco and after a moment he returned it with a dazzling one of his own.  
“Er, Hermione?” he asked. “Do you mind if I used your shower? It’s just I want a quick freshen up...”  
“That’s fine, Dray. I’ll go and get you a towel...” She hopped out of bed and made her way to the bathroom, and quickly made sure that were fresh towels out. She wandered back to her bedroom, where Draco was standing with his clothes. He beamed at her and went into the bathroom. He got into the shower and let the hot water relieve the tension in his muscles.

As the water rolled down his body, he tried to collect his thoughts. His head was spinning. He had gone to France for the Ministry after school because of his feelings towards Hermione and had come back to find her like this. He remembered the way his stomach had jumped when she had clung to him the night before and the way that he couldn’t help but smile back at her when he had woken up. Draco decided that he needed to see Harry and Ron and ask them to fill him in on what exactly had happened. He stepped out of the shower having decided that was what he was going to do. He got dressed and decided to let his hair dry without using magic as he wasn’t in any rush. He could smell coffee, bacon, eggs, and toast and he realised how hungry he was.

He walked through to the kitchen and Hermione offered him a huge plate filled with breakfast. He smiled appreciatively and asked “Did you sleep alright? Do you want to tell me what your nightmare was about?”  
To Draco’s surprise, Hermione blushed slightly. “It was nothing, honestly, just a bad dream....I’m fine now. Draco, can I just say thank you?”  
“What for?”  
“Last night. I don’t think I would have got home if you hadn’t found me....”  
“Hermione,” Draco said cutting her off, “It was nothing!" He glanced at his watched, and realised the time. "Look, I have to go now but if you want anything, please, just ask...”  
“If it’s not too rude.....umm.....would you come round again tonight? Just to make sure that I get home ok, you know? I could make dinner for you as well, if you want....”  
Draco looked at her. His heart had quickened slightly. “Of course I will,” he said beaming at her. “I can make it here for about 7? That ok?”

Hermione nodded and Draco gave her a hug. “Thanks for breakfast! I’ll see you tonight...” He walked out into the street and apparated to 12 Grimmauld Place. There he found, as he had predicted, Harry and Ginny (now married) and Ron. To his surprise he also found Pansy Parkinson seated beside Ron, holding hands with him. He greeted his old friends warmly and asked if he could talk to Harry alone. Everyone gave them quizzical looks as Harry nodded, and followed him into the kitchen. Harry smiled at Draco and then saw the worried look on his face.  
“What is it? What’s happened?”  
“Well, nothing really.....yet....It’s Hermione. I’m worried about her.”  
“Why? What’s wrong?”  
“Yesterday I found her in The Leaky Cauldron. I watched swallow 4 Fire Whiskey’s one after another and then for no apparent reason completely break down. I brought her back to her place and got her calmed down – not before she cried into my shoulder for about an hour though – and she told me that she was engaged to this bloke Jack? And she found out yesterday that he'd cheated on her and he apparently got married two weeks ago to some model...I was just wondering if you knew anything about this?”  
From the look on Harry’s face, it was pretty obvious that Harry didn’t know.  
“I knew that she was engaged, yeah, and I know that I didn’t think that it was a very wise match, but what you’ve just told me, shit, I didn’t have a clue....” Harry trailed off. They sat in silence for a minute then Harry said: “How’s she coping with it?” Draco pulled a face. “I stayed at hers last night – she asked me to, and even though she had taken some sleeping pills she woke up screaming....she won’t tell me what the dream was about though..”

*****

_7pm, Hermione’s house._

Hermione dashed around her flat, checking that everything was alright. In the kitchen, the pasta that was cooking with the bolognaise sauce smelt great. She heard a light knocking on the front door and ran to answer it. Draco was stood there, leaning against the door jamb, looking gorgeous – “Wait!” she thought to herself, “Why am I thinking that about Draco Malfoy of all people? He’s one of my best friends!” He smiled down at her and walked past her into the house. He sniffed and turned back around to face her, grinning. “Spaghetti Bolognaise! How did you know that it’s one of my favourite dishes?!”  
Hermione smiled, glad that she had made him so happy. She dished up and they sat at the table and talked about everything and anything. Eventually they began to talk about Harry, Ginny and Ron.  
“I take it that things didn’t work out between you and Ron in the end then?” Draco said. “Seeing as he’s seeing Pansy now.”  
Hermione nodded enthusiastically. “They are so good for one another!”  
Draco looked at her his eyebrows raised slightly over his blue grey eyes. Hermione noticing asked “What?”  
“I just didn’t think you and Pansy were that close” he said, laughing.  
“Yeah, well, the past is the past, we’re a lot closer now...”

The talked for a while longer and then they decided to get some sleep. Draco was sleeping on the sofa again and Hermione came in to say goodnight on her way back to her bedroom. When she entered the room, Draco was lounging on the sofa, and had his notebook out. All Hermione could see at the top of the page was a date – 1st November 1998 – their last year at Hogwarts. When Draco heard her, he twisted to face her, quickly closed the notebook, and gave her a hug. Hermione closed the door on her way out and when she reached her bedroom, she dashed over to her old Hogwarts trunk. In it, she found the diaries that she had kept over 1997-2000. She flicked through them until she found 1st September 1998. She read all the entries up until the 4th November. As far as she could see, nothing had happened that Draco would have kept a record of. Over the 1st few months of that school year, she had become very close to Draco and the 1st of November was the first time she had enjoyed a conversation alone with him. He hadn’t insulted her once so it was quite a well marked page in the diary but Hermione couldn’t think why Draco would have made a note of it...

_At the same time, in the living room._

Draco sighed. He was looking over some of the best songs that he had ever written - the ones that meant the most to him. He had a habit of dating the top of the page and on the page that had been open when Hermione had come in was a very special song in Draco’s opinion. He and Hermione had talked for a few hours and she had seemed genuinely happy to be spending time with him. He had gone to the Room of Requirement that night and written this song:

**I don't know but  
I think I may be  
Fallin' for you  
Dropping so quickly  
Maybe I should  
Keep this to myself  
Wait until I  
Know you better  
And I’m trying  
Not to tell you  
But I want to  
I'm scared of what you'll say  
So I'm hiding what I'm feeling  
But I'm tired of  
Holding this inside my head  
I've been spending all my time  
Just thinking about you  
I don't know where to  
I think I'm fallin' for you  
I've been waiting all my life  
And now I found you  
I don't know where to  
I think I'm fallin' for you  
I'm fallin' for you**

Draco didn’t know if he still felt the same way about Hermione.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: I don’t own the characters or song lyrics. Song lyrics: Circles by Colbie Caillat.

Draco awoke the next morning on Hermione’s sofa. Still open in his hand was his notebook. The notebook which held all his feelings towards Hermione. He had always felt a strange attraction towards Hermione, ever since their 1st year together at Hogwarts. He had never told anyone about his feelings towards Hermione as he was scared about what people would say – particularly his father – about Draco Malfoy falling in love with a mudblood. He shivered when he thought about that word – how had he ever called Hermione something so foul? He had watched her grow up, getting more beautiful each year, her eyes growing older as she faced something different each year, loyally defending her two best friends, Potter and Weasley. How often had he wished to be in their shoes, just for the day, just to see her smile, and share a private joke with her? Too many times. He had spent too many nights trying to think of ways to make her accept him.

Then, in their last year together at Hogwarts, when he had made the right decisions, Hermione had invited Draco to come and sit with Harry, Ron and herself, in the prefects common room, that Harry, as Quidditch Capitan, also had the privilege of sharing. He had sat with them, round the fire and over the evening, he slowly became more involved in the conversation, so by the time that they all went to bed, he was laughing at private jokes with them. The three boys had gone up to their separate rooms together and the next morning, Draco had breakfast with them. From then on, he had laughed with them on the way to class, sat beside them in lessons, eaten his meals with them – he was the fourth part to “The Golden Trio.” He had shared everything with them – that is, everything except his ever-growing feelings towards Hermione. One night, about two weeks after Hermione had asked Draco to sit with them, he had needed a place to let everything out. He had gone to the Room of Requirement, not sure what he would find that would help him understand his feelings. He found a guitar and basic book with simple instructions. That first night, he played for so long that his fingers became rough and red. However, he was a fast learner, and it was worth it because the next night, he wrote his first song. 

**It took a while to find it  
But now I’m here and can’t deny it  
This feeling just gets better all the time  
So beautiful in front of me that I can’t believe my eyes  
I know that if I move ahead, time is on my side  
I’m free from the circle  
There’ll be no regrets this time. **

He sat up, yawned and stepped out into Hermione’s hallway. He was heading towards the kitchen to make himself some coffee, but as he passed the bathroom, he heard singing. He paused, and over the sound of the shower, he could hear Hermione singing, well, humming, the tune that he had written the night he had stayed with her until she fell asleep. There was something haunting about her voice Draco found, especially when she began to put the words that he had written to the tune. He leant against the wall and smiled. Although he was still unsure of his feelings for her, he knew for sure that he loved Hermione, at least as a friend. After a minute, he shook himself and walked into the kitchen, with Hermione’s beautiful voice ringing in his ears. He made some coffee and hunted through her cupboards to see what he could make for breakfast. He found some croissants and put them in the oven to heat them up. He was bent over the oven a few minutes later, taking the croissants out when Hermione walked in. He turned and his breath caught in his throat. She was standing in the doorway wearing a very simple outfit, but Draco thought she looked beautiful. She was wearing a pair of skinny jeans and a checked shirt with her wet hair beginning to dry in curls, framing her face.   
He smiled. “Good morning, did you sleep well?”   
She smiled back and walked over to the tray with the hot croissants on it, still in Draco’s hand. “Yes, thank you. Did you?” Draco, still distracted by how beautiful he found her could only answer by nodding. He followed her gaze to the croissants and quickly put them on the table. He and Hermione sat and each took one. Hermione began talking about her work at the ministry but Draco wasn’t listening. In his head, he was trying to work out his feelings towards Hermione. They both reached out to lift the jam jar and their hands brushed together. He felt as though an electric current had travelled down her arm, and passed through her hand, up his own arm. He jerked his gaze up to her face and saw that she was giving him a puzzled look. He withdrew his hand quickly, letting Hermione take the jam and wondered if she had felt the shock at their contact. She just smiled at him and they finished breakfast, before Draco apparated home to get ready for work.

In his bedroom in his own flat, Draco quickly showered and pulled on a fresh shirt and jeans to wear below his robes for work. He had become accustomed to wearing Muggle clothing and had a pretty good idea of what looked good and what didn’t. He glanced at the clock and saw that as he was early and as he had already had breakfast, he decided to walk to work. Although he didn’t want to admit it, he wanted to be out in the open air to try and get a grasp on his feelings. He walked slowly to work, losing track of time, and only just made it on time. All day he was distracted and couldn’t concentrate on his work. Blaise Zabini, who worked in the same office as Draco, and who was still one of Draco’s best friends wondered about it, but decided not to ask – Draco would tell him if he wanted Blaise to know.

On his way home from the Ministry, he bumped into Hermione, who was just leaving too. They fell into easy conversation, and Draco quickly invited Hermione to dinner. She accepted with a smile and told him that she would be round at about half seven. Draco told her that would be fine and set off home. He suddenly realised what he had just done and glanced at his watch. It was a quarter past six already, his flat was a mess and he didn’t know what food he had in. He apparated home, pulled off his robes, and performed a quick spell to tidy the house. He knew that it wasn’t perfect, and that his flat could be a lot tidier, but he had promised Hermione dinner. He dashed into the kitchen and opened cupboards, searching for something quick and easy to make, but something that Hermione would like. He decided to make a stir fry, one of the first dishes he had learnt to cook himself, and began to prepare the meal. It was soon underway, and he was glad that he had taken the decision to cook it by hand rather than using magic or asking a house elf. He knew that Hermione would have objected to him asking his house elf to cook, and from his experience, food was always nicer made by hand anyway.

He left the kitchen for a few minutes at a quarter past seven, to check that he looked alright (it confused him as to why he felt it necessary to look especially nice for Hermione), and to make sure that the flat was tidy. Everywhere was fine apart from his “music room”. This was a room that he had added onto his flat by magic and was where he went to write his music. It contained a few guitars – both acoustic and electric, though he much preferred playing acoustically – his baby grand piano, and some Muggle recording equipment. He quickly collected up the sheets of music that were scattered around and shoved them onto the music stand on the piano. He walked back to the kitchen, pulling the door to the music room behind him, leaving it slightly ajar. As he had never told Hermione, or anyone else, about playing and writing music, he was half hoping that she wouldn’t find the room and ask about it. Though, strangely enough, he wasn’t overly worried about what would happen if she did find it.

He went back to cooking and at exactly half past seven, he heard Hermione arrive in the living room, using Floo.  
“I’m in the kitchen!” he called and he heard her walk down the corridor. She stopped in the doorway and he turned to look at her. She was wearing what she put on that morning and she was leaning against the doorframe.  
“Hello” she said, smiling.   
“Hello, I hope you like stir fry?” he replied with a smile.   
“I love it! And it smells great!”  
“That’s good. It’ll be done in about 5....”  
“Cool. Do you mind if I use your bathroom?”  
“Go for it” he said laughing. He straightened up and showed her where it was. 

****

After he had shown her into the bathroom, Hermione went over to the sink, and gazed in the mirror above it. She fussed with her hair, and checked her make-up. There was something about being with Draco that made her feel pretty and that made her strive to look as nice as she could for him. She checked her appearance and headed back down the corridor. She took her time, quietly peering into the rooms – she was curious about where Draco was now living. She passed a door that was ajar. She peeked in, and saw the baby grand.  
“I never knew Draco played!” she thought, walking over. She hoped Draco wouldn’t mind her looking. She gently opened the books on the piano and saw Draco’s sloping handwriting below notes on the manuscript paper. She wished now that she could read music so that she could form the music that Draco had written. She decided that she would ask him at dinner if he would play any for her.

“Hermione?” called Draco.   
“Coming!” she replied, slipping out of the room and closing the door behind her.  
She entered the kitchen again, and sat down at the table as Draco set down the two steaming plates. She took a forkful and grinned.  
“Draco! This is lovely!”  
He grinned back and they ate together. They fell into a light conversation about work and discovered that they worked the same hours in neighbouring departments in the ministry.

Hermione was becoming more and more curious about the room full of musical equipment. She waited until there was a pause in their conversation, and then tentatively asked.  
“Draco....?”  
“Mmmmm?”  
“Can I ask you something?”  
“Sure, go for it,” he replied smiling.   
“You know that tune you were singing the other night at my house? What was it from?”  
He gazed intently at her for a few moments.  
“You’ve probably worked it out, to be honest....come on and I’ll show you.” He took her hand, trying to ignore the pleasant feeling he got from it, and led her to the music room.   
“It’s sort of....sort of my way of showing what I feel....” he told her hesitantly.  
She followed him into the room and sat down on the end of the piano stool.  
“Can I hear something?” she asked quietly.

He hesitated. He had never, ever let anyone hear his music. But, he reasoned with himself, if anyone’s going to be honest about it, it’s going to be Hermione Granger.

“Ok. Yeah. Why not?”  
She smiled. “Can I hear that one from the other night?”  
“It’s not finished yet, but yeah, I don’t see why not.”  
He picked up an acoustic guitar and played the song. He closed his eyes when he began singing and didn’t open them until he reached the end. He looked up at her. She was sitting on the piano stool with tears in her eyes.   
“Draco, that was beautiful.”  
He smiled, a little awkwardly. “Thanks. That’s only a rough song. It’s nowhere near finished!”  
“Have you got a finished one that I can hear?”  
“Um...yeah. Hold on a second. He got up and walked over to the recording equipment and took out a CD. He put it into a small CD player and pressed play. From the CD player came the sounds of the song that he’d written that first night when he realized how he felt about Hermione. This time he watched her reaction. She had closed her eyes and was letting the music flow over her. When it came to an end, she got up and walked over to him. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly, resting her head on his chest.  
“Those were beautiful Draco. Whoever the girl is that inspires those, she’s one lucky girl! Does she know that you like her?”  
Draco looked down into her eyes. “I don’t know. I don’t think so. I’m going to try and show her though. I didn’t tell her when I should have done and I don’t want to lose her.”  
Hermione smiled back and said “Well, if I ever meet her, I’ll be sure to tell her that she’s the luckiest girl alive to have your heart.”

There were a few minutes of silence, then Hermione, realizing that she was still hugging Draco, shook herself and said “I’d better go. We both have work tomorrow.”  
“Ok” Draco pouted.  
Hermione laughed at his childish expression. “Don’t worry! You’ll see me tomorrow again.”  
“Indeed I will” he replied, getting butterflies at the very thought. He led her out to the door and held her again. “Thank you.” he said.  
“What for?” she asked confusedly.  
“Listening. That’s the first time someone’s listened.”  
“You’re welcome” she replied, hugging him again.  
He hugged her back, burying his face into her hair, inhaling her sweet scent. She smelt nice, floral with a hint of something else that he couldn’t quite place – but whatever it was, it made the memories of their last year at Hogwarts come flooding back. He smiled to himself as he thought he sensed the slight reluctance as Hermione let go and stepped outside.  
“I’ll see you tomorrow then,” she laughed.

He nodded and watched as she turned on the spot. With that, she was gone.  
Draco slowly closed the door and walked back into the kitchen. He quickly cleared up from the meal and then walked back into his music room. He took his familiar seat on the piano stool, but for once, he didn’t play. He just sat there, remembering. Remembering how right it felt whenever he was hugging Hermione and how she hadn’t resisted when he had taken her by the hand. He remembered the Christmas they had spent together in their 7th year, and the endless nights staying up late, talking and arguing about everything and anything, the nights always ending with laughter and promises to see one another the following day. He remembered the way his heart had speed up when he had seen Hermione that morning and how his body had reacted when their hands had touched accidently. Most of all, he remembered how readily she had accepted him...


End file.
